


Until We Meet Again

by atomiccandypanda



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ball, Former king Ace, Former king Marco, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Meet Again, Necklaces
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:47:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27563284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomiccandypanda/pseuds/atomiccandypanda
Summary: Marco left Raftel thirty years ago, and took the throne of Moby. His son, Edward, now the king asked him to conclude a deal with the new king of Raftel. The travel let him take a journey down his memories with the one he left thirty years ago as well, the then prince Ace.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Past Portgas D. Ace/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	1. Day 1

“Have you everything for the deal, Father?”

Marco sighed, it was the third time his oldest son was asking him. “Yes, I have everything. You need to calm down.”

“Calm down!” Edward retorted “If we don’t conclude this deal with Raftel, half of the people won’t survive the winter!”

“Edward, you already had concluded the deal. Raftel needs to make this deal as much as us.” Marco reasoned. He saw one of the servants making a sign, behind his son, that every luggages was in the carriage. Marco put his hands on Edward’s shoulders “In one week Raftel king will sign the contract. Everything will be fine” He kissed his forehead before he got in the carriage. “Take care of you, Ed.”

“I will Father.” The young king promised.

* * *

Marco looked by the windows, the landscapes passed before his eyes. He and his travel neighbor had left three hours ago from Moby capital, and they haven’t spoken a word to each other. Not that wouldn’t have been pleased Marco, but the man alternated between looking away from Marco, and playing with his hands. Okay, maybe having his sword beside him wasn’t the best move, if Marco wanted to have a polite conversation with his neighbor, Marco thought when he saw for the umpteenth time the guy’s eyes flickered to the weapon. Marco knew the road to Loguetown, the capital of Raftel kingdom, most of the road was safe except for some passages in the mountains and forests. 

“What’s your name?” Marco asked, trying to begin a conversation.

The young man jumped, surprised that Marco spoke finally to him “I’m sorry your majesty, I didn’t hear what you said” 

“What’s your name?” Marco asked again

“Godric, your majesty.”

“Okay, Godric. So two things, first don’t call me ‘your majesty’ I’m not king anymore. And second, relax. I have my sword with me, just in case we encounter problems in the road.”

* * *

“Have you gone to Loguetown before?”

“Yes, I studied there for four years.”

“Oh, you didn’t study at the royal university?”

“No, I studied medicine and Raftel had the best doctors known. It was only naturally that I asked to study there.”

“Wait, did you meet the previous king?”

“Yes, I already met Ace”

They continued to talk about Raftel’s culture with Marco correcting some facts that Godric had learned, then the discussion deviated on Godric's position as ambassador.

They dozed off afterward, only to be woken up by the surrounding sound of the city of Ohara. It was still clear, so Marco decided to go around the bookstores to find something to read during the rest of the trip.

Ohara was a university town, so there were a lot of students and professors in the streets enjoying cheap beers at the numerous pubs the town had, or having their noses buried in a book at one of as the numerous bookstores.

Marco entered in one on the main road; He walked through the shelves and found two books: one concerning the different methods to use against poisons and the other on the new surgeries. Not really a light reading to pass time in the carriage but it will be perfect when he would be at Loguetown.

He went to another bookstore where he bought a tale and fiction books. He took another one,  _ ‘Mores and traditions of Raftel _ ’, he smiled at the memory when he found it. Marco decided to offer it to Godric, it would be useful for him. When he returned to the inn, the dinner was served.

* * *

Sat by the windows, Marco alternated between looking outside and staring at the books posed on his knees. ‘ _ Mores and traditions of Raftel _ ’ He put his hand on the covers. The bittersweet memory came back, after all everything had begun with this book.

  
  


_ Marco was sitting in a room waiting for the king Roger to come; one of the servants had informed him that the king was held elsewhere for now, and that he apologized for being late. Marco had smiled and assured that it was alright and that the king could take all his time. _

_ The servant had offered him a tea that she put on the table in front of him while Marco opened his book and began to read. He was in the third chapter when someone spoke up beside him. _

_ “What are you reading?” _

_ Marco flinched and looked up to the person who had spoken. Younger than Marco of one or two years, thick black hair surrounding silver eyes. The loose shirt that he was porter did nothing to hide his well-built body, but accentuated it. Marco thought he saw freckles on his nose and cheeks, but in the room not so well illuminated, he couldn’t be sure. _

_ Marco showed him the cover of his book. “Mores and traditions of Raftel” the man read. “You know if you want to learn more about our customs, you should go in town they are preparing the spring festival” _

_ “Oh really? I will try to go” _

_ “You definitely should, there are plenty of show displays, and there is a lot of food cooked especially for the festival” The man said dreamily “If you need a guide, I’m happy to accompany you, …” _

_ “Marco. My name is Marco” _

_ The man extended his hand to shake his. “I’m Ace.” _

The honey donuts had been delicious.


	2. Day 2

Godric and Marco had been on the road for three hours ; the drivers had insisted on leaving at dawn in order to be sure to pass the mountain pass before dark. Godric went back to sleep as soon as the carriage set off; So it was only after he woke up that Marco gave him the book that he had bought him. 

“Oh that’s interesting” Godric exclaimed “Peoples of Raftel have a necklace who when given to someone show their love and devotion for them”

Marco didn’t respond, but smiled to Godric who had already buried back his nose in the book. His hand mechanically touched the necklace Marco had under his shirt; Even separated by the fabric Marco could feel the edges smoothed by time.

  
  


_ “Marco!” Ace called him when he entered the library; it was a good thing that nobody was there apart from Marco. Ace found him surrounded by books. _

_ Marco looked up to him, when he approached “Ace you shouldn’t yell in the library” _

_ “I know but I have something for you” Ace replied “I saw it and thought it was perfect for you” _

_ Marco took what Ace was giving him and examined it. It was a necklace made of a simple leather cord and with a phoenix for pendant. He raised an eyebrow and looked up at Ace “Are you proposing to me?” _

_ “What! No, I just thought” Ace flushed at Marco’s remark “I just thought that you would like one since everyone had one” He explained touching his own necklace. _

_ “I know, I was just pulling your leg” Marco laughed and then put on the necklace, after he calmed himself. _


	3. Day 3

“Oh God, I thought we would never arrive” Godric said, getting out of the carriage while stretching.

Marco followed him out and smiled “You are exaggerating, we were on the road only two days”

Godric turned over to look at Marco “I still don’t know why we didn’t stay at the inn last night. Travelling at night is fairly dangerous, we could have encountered bandits”

“The region around Water seven is highly militarized therefore bandit attack are rare”

“Anyway, we're lucky it seems there's a carnival in town tonight” Godric remarked. Around them, people in costumes and masks were discussing, laughing and passing by them.

“It’s Water seven, masked balls are a specialty of the town” Marco shrugged.

  
  


_ Ace had been on edge for days now, he even forced Marco to try some costumes and finally settled for a blue costume and a silver face mask. Marco had tried to know what Ace was going to wear at the ball, Ace had only smiled and said that he would see it when the time comes. Marco had tried to make him spill the beans, arguing the fact that Ace knew what he was going to wear, but nothing had worked. _

_ So, that’s how Marco found himself at the ball, nursing his glass of booze. The feast had begun a long time ago, and no sign of Ace. Marco hadn’t been alone all the time, he was still a prince and women tended to like that, he discussed and danced with them, but he never stayed too long with one particularly, no need to let them hope. _

_ Marco was going to leave the ballroom when he felt a hand on his arm. A woman was standing next to him, wearing a red ball dress, her mask covering her entire face that only her eyes were visible, her long black hair was styled into an elegant braid. _

_ She put her gloved hand on Marco’s and asked “Will you dance with me?” _

_ Marco was tempted to refuse but decided that one more dance won’t hurt. _

* * *

_ “Thanks Deuce” Ace said to him for untying the lace of the corset he was wearing. _

_ “It’s nothing Ace. You should go rest now.” _

_ “Yeah, I’m going straight to bed, Bye Deuce” Ace said. _

_ “Good night, your highness” Deuce called him after he left the room. _

_ Ace walked through the deserted corridor, happy to not meet anybody while he was wearing a dress, granted nobody would recognize him because of his mask and his wig. Before entering his room, Ace glanced at the door of the room next to his, Marco’s room. He sighed when he closed the door. _

_ “Were you going to kiss me?” Ace froze when he heard Marco’s voice, he turned and Marco was there, sitting on his bed. “Don’t take me wrong, this dress looks lovely on you” Marco continued, standing up and going closer to Ace who stepped backwards until his back was pressed at the door. “So, Ace were you going to kiss me?” _

_ “I, I, ….” Ace shuttered “What if I wanted to?” _

_ Marco smiled in response, took off Ace’s mask and leaned toward Ace to brush his lips with his own. _


	4. Day 4

Marco and Godric were enjoying their breakfast before leaving again. The drivers had gone to inquire about the state of the road they were going to take today.

After they finished eating, they went to the barn to rejoin the drivers at the carriage. The two drivers were speaking to each other, they looked worried about something.

“Is everything alright?” Marco asked them.

“Your highness” The younger greeted.

“There are problems, your highness. The road is blocked, there was a rock slide last night. From what the villagers were saying, we could wait three days for the road to be cleared.”

“Three days!!” Godric repeated. “There is not another road?”

The older driver looked at Godric “Well, we can take the road though Little Garden and arrive in two days.”

“Only two days, why didn’t we take it already? With the other one we would have arrived in three or four days.”

“Little Garden is a forest unclaimed by any of the neighboring kingdoms” Marco explained “there a lot of criminals in this area, that why we chose the other road first”

“So we are waiting for the road to be cleared?” Godric asked.

Marco looked at him “No. We can’t stay three days here” He turned his head to the older driver “It’s alright with you?”

The older one nodded, while the younger turned green.

They entered Little Garden two hours later. Marco sat at the front of the carriage with the older driver, who was more experienced in this kind of road. Godric and the younger driver were in the carriage, they weren’t really the fighter type. 

Marco banged against the carriage wall “Turn off the lights and close the curtains, we are entering the forest” He ordered them.

The crossing of the forest should take theoretically four hours. Marco had his sword ready in his hand, in case of a problem. The drivers napped the reins and the horses sped up.

They suffered some arrows shooting, but they never slowed down. Without lights in a dense forest where the sunlight couldn’t pass. By luck, they didn’t have a lot of trouble traversing.

Marco sighed in relief when they finally got out of Little Garden. Marco knew from first-hand experience that it was rare to get out unhurt of an ambush.

  
  


_ Pain, that was the first thing Marco could feel while regaining consciousness. After that, it was a pressure on his hand that he felt. He opened his eyes, and closed them immediately. Marco groaned, the room was too bright for him. _

_ “Marco?” _

_ He grunted in response to Ace’s question. After a moment, Marco opened his eyes again. “What happened?” _

_ “We were attacked, you took a blow to your head when you protected me” Ace explained. _

_ The memories come back to Marco. Ace and him were coming back from Rayleigh’s place, they decided to take a shortcut, and they were surrounded a second after. They had fought, Marco had glanced in Ace's direction, and he had seen one of the men sneaking in Ace’s back, to smash him from behind. Marco had gotten between them and had taken the blow. _

_ “Don’t do that again.” Ace spoke “I thought, I thought… Marco, you weren’t responding, I thought” Ace sobbed, the relief of nearly losing Marco washing over him. _

_ Marco raised his hand to put it on Ace’s cheek, Ace let himself be pulled against Marco’s chest. _

_ “I thought I lost you,” Ace whispered. _

_ “I’m here Ace. I won’t let you alone” Marco said, petting his head. Ace, exhausted by the hours of worry and the tears, fell asleep. “Sleep well, Ace” Marco kissed Ace’s hair “I love you.” _


	5. Day 5

The day after, at night they officially entered Raftel kingdom, but still hours away from the capital Loguetown; they decided to stay at an inn.

The driver stopped at the first inn they found. Marco, who had taken a liking of being sit outside and in front of the carriage, glanced at the establishment they had stopped in front of.

“Keep going, there's another one thirty minutes away” Marco said.

The young driver was about to protest, when he remembered that Marco was still from the royal family and it wouldn’t be good for his career if he angered him.

Marco glanced behind when they went back on their road;  _ The Queen Anne’s Revenge _ looked like a fine establishment but Marco knew the owner, Marshall Teach, and he was one of the most despicable men who had been permitted to live on the planet Earth.

_ The Shakky’s Rip-off Inn _ ’s look was the inverse of the Revenge’s one. I looked more like a place you could have your throat cut rather than an actual inn.

Marco jumped off the carriage and went to the door that he knocked on.

“Your highness” Intervened the driver when there wasn't an answer “Maybe we can turn back to the other inn.”

Marco didn’t listen to him and began to knock again “Come on old man, it’s freezing out there.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming” A voice inside the inn said, the door opened “You think it's a time to wake up honest people?”

“It’s been a while Rayleigh” Marco responded.

Rayleigh opened the door entirely when he recognized the man in front of him. “Marco, you are finally back to Raftel!” He said taking Marco briefly in his arms. Rayleigh glanced at the carriage “Take it in the courtyard, I will join you.”

After Rayleigh had taken care of the horses and showed the others their rooms, He joined Marco who was still waiting, in the room downstairs.

“You don’t need to sleep, kid?” Rayleigh remarked.

Marco smiled at him “I slept on the road. I’m more in the mood for booze actually.”

Rayleigh took a bottle that Roger offered him a long time ago, and two glasses, he filled them then placed one in front of Marco and sipped at the other. Marco took the glass and drank a mouthful.

“Geez, I still can’t believe it that you are here, kid. It’s been what? Thirty years.”

Marco nodded “Yeah, the last time we saw each other was when I left Raftel and went back to Moby”

“And what takes you back here?”

“I’m here to finish an agreement between Moby and Raftel” Rayleigh raised one eyebrow at what Marco said. “Everything had been already decided, we just had to make it official. We lend our military power to Raftel if needed, and they will send us some emissaries to teach us how to augment our productivity in agriculture.”

“With the aim of concluding other partnerships in the future, I suppose” Rayleigh remarked, “It’s good, Ace had to focus most of his reign on resolve military problems; Roger really let him a mess to deal with, after he died”

“But Ace made it.”

“But Ace made it, you know who stubborn he is”

“He didn’t change?”

“Not a bit. At first, he was kind of down, but when his kids were born he began to recover his personality.”

“Kids, hum. I always know he would have been a good father. I’m happy that he got along with his wife.” Marco added the last sentence in a whisper. He tightened his hand around his glass.

Rayleigh sighed at Marco’s reaction, the kid wasn’t really being subtle here. “They aren’t his, biologically speaking” Marco raised his head so fast that he nearly pulled his neck muscles. “His wife was already pregnant before their wedding. According to what Ace told me, she got pregnant trying to escape their engagement, but the other man rejected her when she told him.” 

“Damn, and Ace accepted to marry her?”

“I’m sure you are aware that Ace is gay, he was actually happy not to have to sleep with her.”

Marco shrugged “He had other kids.”

“So as you.” Rayleigh remarked.

“I didn’t marry, got engaged once but broke it off. I still wanted to have a family on my own, so I adopted kids.” Marco explained, he looked like he was trying to defend himself.

“Calm down, kid, you don’t need to explain yourself to me” Rayleigh filled Marco’s glass while speaking. “And for Ace’s kids, he did like you; they adopted after the first kid there were complications during the childbirth and the doctors recommended that she didn’t have any more pregnancies.” Rayleigh drank the rest of his drink. “And if you were this jealous about Ace getting married to a woman, maybe you should have proposed before.” 

Marco stayed silent and only looked at Rayleigh. “You knew.”

“I’m not Roger, kid. And I’m pretty sure Ace lost his virginity in one of the rooms of this fine establishment”

Marco laughed. “I’m not gonna lie to you” Then he downed his drink, he stood up and walked off to the stairs to go to the room. He stopped before going upstairs. “We were planning to wait one week after I arrived at Moby, then I was going to ask Roger officially for Ace’s hand.” He said, his back turned to Rayleigh.

  
  


_ “Ace!” Marco called when he opened the door of Ace’s room.  _

_ Ace was sitting on the bed, staring into space. He turned his head when Marco entered. _

_ “Deuce told you?” _

_ “Yes” Marco moved closer to Ace, and took him in his arms. _

_ Ace put his head in the base of Marco’s neck. “Three weeks, Marco, three weeks” He sobbed. _

_ “I know, Ace” Marco said, trying to comfort him.  _

_ They had planned everything. Marco would talk to his father when he would arrive and then Marco would send an official proposal for Ace’s hand. They had been sure that everything would be alright; Moby had already a lot of alliance, and Raftel needed one. Marco would turn Moby’s throne down and come to Raftel to be Ace’s consort. _

_ They had planned everything. They hadn’t planned for Roger to arrange a marriage for Ace without telling him. Ace had only been informed this morning that his father had arranged the marriage between him and a girl of an influential family of the neighbor country. _

_ Marco and Ace stayed in the arms of each other for a long time. _

_ Ace had tried to convince Marco, to let him escape after Marco left, he would join him back to Moby. But Marco was the voice of reason, “Ace, if you leave Raftel and disappear, your father won’t have an heir anymore. Raftel would be an easy target for the other countries” _

_ Ace knew that, he wasn’t stupid, but just for one second he had wanted to think that they could save their relationship. That they wouldn’t have to break up. _

_ During the week, they continued to live their lives like they always did; they hadn’t spoken about what was going to happen once Marco left.  _

_ Their last night neither of them slept, they didn’t even have sex. They only stayed wrapped around each other without speaking.  _

_ Too soon, it was time for Marco to leave. All his belongings were already in the carriage, The only thing missing was him. Marco went to see if he hadn’t forgotten anything in Ace room. Well, that was what he had told Ace, but in reality Marco was there for another matter.  _

_ He touched his necklace, and took it off from his neck. He touched the phoenix pendant, Ace had told him it reminded of him, part of him wanted to keep it but Marco knew that he would never give it to someone else. He wanted Ace to know that everything he had told him before was still true. Marco hurried to hide the necklace under Ace’s pillow. _

_ “Marco?” Ace called him. _

_ “I’m here” _

_ Ace entered the room “Everything is ready. They are waiting for you.” He said, he tried to smile but he failed. _

_ Marco took him in his arms, they at least needed to have a real farewell. Marco kissed him “I love you, never forget it” He kissed him again “We will meet again Ace. I promise, we will meet again” _

_ Everything after this moment was a blur; Marco didn’t remember anything from the trip.  _

_ When he opened his chest with all his books, and notes from his classes, a necklace with a fire pendant was above everything.  _

_ Marco smiled and put Ace’s necklace around his neck. _


	6. Day 6

“Ace” Deuce called after he knocked at the door of the former king. Of course, he didn’t have a response, like always when he had to come wake up Ace.

Ace was still sleeping despite the sun illuminating the room, and he hadn’t closed the curtains of the canopy bed.

Deuce called Ace again, this time shaking him gently. Ace groaned but woke up. He opened his eyes, looked at Deuce, and closed them back.

“You know, the perk of not being king anymore is to not have to wake up at dawn.” He sighed.

Deuce put the tray with Ace’s breakfast on the table beside the bed “It’s not dawn anymore, lunch would be served in less than one hour. And we received a message from Sir Rayleigh” He added “The delegation from Moby will arrive this afternoon”

“Did he write who was in the delegation?”

“I’m afraid not”

“Shame, would have been useful” Ace remarked standing up “You can go. I’ll wash up a bit, then I will join everyone for lunch.”

Deuce bowed before him, then left. Ace sighed, Deuce was his companion since his childhood, and despite having asked him multiple times, he insisted on following protocol to the letter.

Ace took off his nightgown, to wash up his face and body. In the mirror, above the basin of water, shined the phoenix pendant of his necklace. Ace was always wearing it, the only time he hadn’t, was during his wedding day.

Ace put a shirt on, to stop his train of thoughts. He didn’t want to think about the blue eyes, the weird haircut and the deep voice that were still haunting him for thirty years. ‘ _We will meet again, I promise’_ Ace shook his head and then left his room.

After the lunch he had with his son, the now king of Raftel, Charles and his daughter-in-law, Victoria. His other son, Hippolyte was already there looking after the horses.

“Hi dad. You are going for a ride?”

“Hi, Hip. Yeah, I thought about going at the lake today”

“You can take Striker, I already prepared him”

Striker had been Ace’s last birthday gift from his children. The beautiful black stallion was spirited and had his own temper, but he really adored Ace.

The lake was the place Ace always went when he needed to think and be alone. And today was one of those days.

It was maybe stupid to still think about Marco. It had been thirty years since he left but his absence was still felt. Oh, of course Ace had been with other men through the years after Marco’s departure. The sex had been great, not wonderful, but great enough. It was the afterward that was more the problem. Instead of feeling satisfied, there was always a void that settled in him instead.

He had stopped having sex with random men after he adopted Hippolyte with his wife; taking care of his children had helped him fill the void. It was still there but more tuned that before, it only missed a piece for it to be silent.

Ace returned to the castle, the delegation should be arriving soon. It was stupid but for once more, he hoped that it was Marco who would stepped out of the carriage. He was giving Striker a threat after he had removed the saddle and brushed him.

“Hey dad, are you ready to go?” Hippolyte said “deuce is going to have a stroke soon if you don’t came”

“What’s the hurry?”

“The Moby’s delegation arrived an hour ago, and Charles was occupied with the council, so nobody was there to officially welcome them.”

“Deuce needs to calm down, Moby had a protocol less uptight than ours. They won’t take offense, it’s actually a mark of respect to offer their guests to rest before they obliged them to interact with others” Ace explained to his son, while leaving the barn.

“How do you know that?”

“Someone taught me a long time ago” Ace responded, his hand going to his necklace.

Hippolyte observed his father while they were traversing the garden to return to the castle. Some courtesans passed past them, Hippolyte saw one of them making big doe eyes, smiling at Ace when she passed by. Since his wife died eight years ago, Ace had been proposed multiple times. He had rejected every offer.

Everyone thought it was because Ace was still thinking about his wife; but Hippolyte knew that his parents never loved each other, they cared deeply for each other but there were more friends than anything else.

Hippolyte still remembered the time he asked his dad how he had known that his mother was the one. His parents had looked at each other and then explained to him that circumstances brought them together, that even if they both cared about each other they weren’t in love. After that, Hippolyte had asked his father if he had been in love before.

Ace’s eyes had clouded, he forced himself to smile and had said “Once. We chose our duty before love.” Hippolyte had remarked how tight his father was gripping at his necklace.

His father knew what it meant to give up on someone you loved because of your duty, that was why Ace made it a point of honor to let his children marry for love.

“Do you know him?” A courtesan asked her group of friends. They were observing someone who was sitting on a bench, reading a book.

Hippolyte continued walking, but not his father, he turned to look at him and Ace was staring at the man.

“Dad” Hippolyte called him.

Ace didn’t hear his son calling him, how focused he was on Marco reading his book. He hadn’t changed, his hair was turning white, and he was wearing glasses, but except that he was still the same that thirty years ago, there were no mistakes, it was Marco.

Before he knew it, Ace began to walk toward him.

“Marco!”

When he heard his name, Marco turned his head to see Ace walking toward. Marco stood up and walked toward him too. They didn’t run too afraid that one or the other would disappear. When they finally met, they didn’t speak. Marco took Ace in his arms, they were so squeezed against each other that air couldn’t pass between them.

“We meet again.” Marco whispered.

“You could have hurry up,” Ace replied.

Marco smiled and put his hand against the phoenix pendant Ace was wearing, Ace did the same with his.

Ace had finally his missed piece back.


	7. Bonus scenes

“I can’t believe them!” Charles said to his wife. “They kept me so long for this. Did they don’t understand how important the deal with Moby is?”

“They wanted you to reconsider it?” Victoria asked.

“No, they are not this stupid, but they want me to reconsider the law that Dad passed on the homosexual marriage.”

“Again?!”

“Yeah, they are still using their bullshits excuses. You thought they would realize that, thanks to it, the number of orphans had significantly diminished, that the number of suicide too. But no, they were still talking and talking so much that I couldn’t join you for dinner.” Charles vented “And the representative the king Edward sent, I couldn’t even properly welcome him. God, I hope that he won’t take offense of that, we need this deal so much, if he decides not to sign the agreement we are screwed.”

Victoria let his husband vented for a while, after he had passed the whole afternoon with the councilmen he needed that at least. She had met Marco, he joined her and her father-in-law for dinner, they had passed a great time. He told her all about the antics his siblings had done younger, even some concerning Ace’s whereabouts. 

A movement outside made her look by the window, someone was in the garden. 

Behind her, her husband was still talking. “And if he doesn't think he is welcome here, he could choose to talk about reconsidering the deal to his king.”

“Honey.” Victoria called him sweetly “You don’t need to worry about him feeling not welcomed here.”

Charles turned to look at his wife, she was looking by the window, one of her hands was posed and her pregnant belly, she was three month along and was showing. “What do you mean?” She made him a sign for him to look at the windows too. Charles came nearer her and looked. “It’s that my father?!” he asked 

“I don’t think that you need to worry more about Marco not feeling welcomed enough” She remarked, smiling to him, and going to their bed to lay down; while her husband was still staring at his father making out with Moby’s representative in the middle of the garden.

* * *

“Hip, I think you are overthinking again” Hayden responded to his husband talking about how his father was particularly affectionate, and how that proved that his father was in love with this man, Marco. 

They were going to the training yard, Hayden had to teach some new recruits, and he didn’t want to be late. Even if his younger and irresistible lover had forgotten again to put a shirt on, and had decided to harp on about his father's love life to him.

“I’m overthinking! You didn’t see them together, I swear if they had been alone, they would have sex right in the middle of the garden”

“They only hugged each other!” Hayden replied “You said that they didn’t see each other for thirty years, maybe they were just, oh I don’t know happy! That didn’t prove anything.”

They were finally arriving at the training yard, and of course Hayden was five minutes late. He would make Hip pay that, on the yard, or in their bed, probably in their bed.

Hayden was expecting to have the new recruits, fighting each other, arguing like always when he was late. Not this time, they were sitting on the ground at the outline of the ring who was delimiting the fighting zone.

Ace was fighting with Marco, they hadn’t any weapons and were only fighting with their fists and feet. Marco just threw Ace on the ground and was maintaining him by sitting on him. Marco had Ace’s hands above his head preventing him from moving his arms and despite Ace’s effort to make Marco move, he was unable to do so.

Hayden and Hippolyte observed them, then Hip looked at his companion with a big smile. “Okay, you were right” Hayden admitted, when he saw how Marco smiled at Ace, and he was pretty sure that Ace was doing the same.

* * *

It’s been a month and a half since Marco went to Raftel, he had left two weeks after his arrival. Ace had been corresponding with Marco by courier pigeon, and now Ace was accompanying the emissaries to Moby. His son had informed him that he could stay as long as he wanted. All of his children had accepted his relationship with Marco and were supporting him. The only thing that Ace regretted was that his daughter Rouge couldn’t meet him, seeing how busy she had been with the review of the soldiers, but her brothers were too happy to inform her about what had been going on.

After one week of travel, the caravan including three carriages, and with three wagons of materials arrived at Moby’s capital. 

They were awaited, the king was there to welcome them, and Marco was right beside him. When he saw Ace got off Striker, he ran to him to take him in his arms and kissed him. Not really a kind of kiss you do in front of your kids and family, more like the kind of kiss you do when you are alone. Ace was sure that he was going to pass out if Marco didn’t retrieve his tongue soon. They finally separated to take a much-needed breath.

“You know, Marco, most of the time people said hello first.”

Marco smiled “Did I have to understand that you didn’t like it.”

“Oh, hell no, but I have spent a week on the road” Ace smiled, passing his arms around Marco’s neck and putting his body nearer to his “I need a bath, and…” Ace looked over Marco’s shoulder “Your son looks like he is having a heart attack.” 

* * *

“You know, I can take a bath on my own, Marco” Ace said, while Marco who was behind in the bathtub, was washing his hair

“I know, I just needed one too.” Marco answered, kissing Ace’s neck.

“Mmmmh, so does it mean that what you wrote to me isn’t going to happen?”

Marco’s hands began to descend lower on Ace’s body “Oh, it’s definitely going to happen” He said nibbling Ace’s earlobe.


End file.
